Good morning polished world! Can you believe it is the last day of 2015!? Where did this year go?! It's been loaded with some ups and downs, but through each thing there have been dozens upon dozens of blessings. Who can be angry with that??

Today I am sharing with you a New Years manicure I did for part of an Instagram collaboration. I really haven't done many IG collabs, so I was super thrilled when Sarah from @25_SweetPea asked if I wanted to take part! I quickly got to work on a gold and black manicure and came up with this little mish mosh design!

Let's take a look!

Colors Used:

Orly - Liquid Vinyl

OPI - Love Angel Music Baby

China Glaze - Bring on the Bubbly

Salon Perfect - Champagne Toast

I love how this manicure turned out! I really had no idea what I was going to do when I started, and then I just started going and it all came together! I truly am in love with it and am going to be sad when it starts to chip!

So let's take a minute o talk about Bring on the Bubbly by China Glaze. It is a gold multi hex glitter with these random pieces of holo glitter throughout. There are even these large holo chunks which sparkle off the gold. Ugh, I'm so happy I picked up a bottle of this. I used it as a topper on all my gold nails and then for the glitter gradient. Best decision ever. If you can, grab a bottle of this!

Another wonky colored photo that doesn't look like the rest. Meh whatever. I'm too lazy to figure out why. Maybe I should start using my real camera again instead of the iPad for the bottle shots. Or I should just not be lazy and use my lightbox. Maybe in 2016!

What do you think? Fan of this New Years look? Are your nails black and gold also??

Alright everyone, I hope you have a safe and Happy New Year! Please be safe!!!

Good morning polished world! How are you all doing today?? It's Monday, which means it's the start to another work week! Christmas is over too, which means it's time to return to normal manicures! I'm kind of cheating today and sharing with you a manicure I did right after Thanksgiving because I'm honestly uninspired at the moment for anything that isn't Christmas. Funny how that happens. I think it's because I had so many Christmas ideas and wasn't able to complete all of them. Who knows.

Anyways, today's manicure is a fun dot flower manicure which was inspired by Young, Wild, and Polished. A while ago, she was doing these fun framed dot flower designs and I really liked how they looked. I grabbed some of my Sally Hansen polishes and got to work.

Let's take a look!

Colors Used:

Sally Hansen - King of Shadows

Sally Hansen - Night Fright

Sally Hansen - OMGhost

King of Shadows is such a gorgeous dusty lavender polish. It's very unique to my collection and probably not a polish I would have picked up in the stores just by looking at it. Don't get me wrong, I love my purples, but something this muted just doesn't call out to me normally. After applying two coats though, I was in love. It's just gorgeous and has perfect application.

Since I was using a Sally Hansen color, I decided to find my Sally black and white polishes. The only ones I own are the Insta-Dri from the Halloween collection in 2014. I don't know why these polishes aren't part of the main line of Insta-Dri polishes because I really feel like they would sell. The white you could get away with one coat. Black needed two because it was a little streaky with the first coat. For this manicure I used two coats of both.

What do you think? Fan of this manicure? Do you own King of Shadows?
Until next time, <3.

Merry Christmas polished world!!! I hope you all are having a fabulous day so far, and have lots of fun things planned! I really wanted to have this post up yesterday, but when I got ill last week my blog schedule got all weird. So here I am posting my final Christmas manicure on Christmas.

This year for my final manicure, I have created a nativity scene on my nails! I have always wanted to do this manicure since it symbolizes the real reason for the season. If it weren't for the birth of the Savior Jesus Christ, there would be no Christmas.

In Rock Your Nail's video, she used a cream blue polish and did a blue to black gradient. I wanted my nails to look sparkly like the night sky, so I grabbed my bottles of Dream and Storm. I started off with a base coat of Dream and then tried to do a gradient with Storm. Unfortunately it didn't work. I think that the black jelly of Storm didn't build up well and was just getting sucked into the make up sponge. Who knows. So I decided to sponge the tips with Liquid Vinyl and then add a top coat of INM Northern Lights. It worked out perfectly and I got the same look that I was hoping to achieve using Dream and Storm.

Once INM Northern Lights was dried, I took an acrylic white and blue polish and started painting the beam of light on my nails. In Mely's video, she said she used watered down acrylics to get her look. I would have never thought to water down the acrylics and I don't think this design would have worked if you just used plain paint. Watering it down blended the blue and white together, and it created the streaky light look.

After the lighting was just right, which took me quite awhile to do since my OCD had set in, I went through with the black acrylic and a toothpick to create the nativity scene. I think this was the hardest part. Sure the little guys are silhouettes, but if you mess up the acrylic just a little, you end up with an amorphous blob.

What do you think? Are you a fan of this Christmas nativity manicure? Have you tried something like it ever?
I'm super proud of these nails and beyond in love with them. I'm so happy I stumbled across Mely's manicure so I could re-create it!

Good morning polished world! Yes, I am here posting two days in a row, you are not seeing things. I meant to have this post up last Friday, but I ended up with an awful migraine and couldn't muster any strength or energy to look at the computer and write the post up.

So here I am today, cramming in one of my last Christmas manicures before Friday! Today I am sharing with you my annual Santa manicure. I purchased a bottle of Nine Zero Lacquer Santa Suit, so it was only fitting that I create a Santa manicure using this polish. I decided to do the same thing I did with my penguin manicure and do the head on the middle finger and the body on my ring.

Let's take a look!

Colors Used:

Nine Zero Lacquer - Santa Suit

Orly - Mirrorball

Acrylics

If you read my post yesterday, then you already know my love for these Nine Zero Lacquers. Two coats, and you have perfect, sparkly perfection. I had my doubts about this polish because it's red, and well you know how much I don't like red polish. All those doubts went away as soon as I had my base on for this manicure. I almost felt like skipping the Santa and just having a plain swatch. That's how you know I truly love a polish!

For my thumb, which I have pictured in the photos above, I decided to do a little Christmas present. I did two coats of Orly Mirrorball for that nail and then used a toothpick and Santa Suit to draw the bow. Can I tell you how this nail was the most awesome thing on the face of this earth? I thought that my pointer and pinkie nails were sparkly. The holo and sparkle of Mirrorball attached itself to the Nine Zero and caused some sort of cosmic sparkle explosion.

Overall, this manicure is one of my favorites. It was truly festive because of the polish. Jess really created an awesome Christmas collection!

What do you think? Fan of this manicure? Something you see yourself doing for Christmas?

I'll be back probably on Christmas Eve with my last Christmas manicure!!!! Until then, <3.

Good morning polished world! How are you all doing today? It's Tuesday, and that means, at least for this week, it is time for Twinsie Tuesday! This week we are doing a special holiday themed post! This is open to interpretation for each Twinsie, so I can't wait to see what everyone does!

Since Christmas is Friday, I decided to do a Christmas themed manicure. I saw a very cute candy stripe manicure by Sensationails4U on Instagram. I fell in love with the fun mish mosh manicure and really wanted to try it some time this year. I sat down to do it and had two cream polishes, and then I looked and saw my new Nine Zero Lacquer Christmas polishes and knew they had to be used. I'm so happy I saw them, because this manicure is amazing thanks to them!

Let's take a look!

Colors Used:

Nine Zero Lacquer - Cat in the Christmas Tree

Nine Zero Lacquer - Santa Suit

Orly - White Tips

How.amazing.are.these.polishes?! I cannot get over the gorgeousness of them! Both polishes are jelly bases packed with holo glitter. First coat for both was very sheer and I was nervous it wouldn't build up. After applying a second coat though, I had full, gorgeous, shimmery, glittery coverage. They dried a tad dull, but after one coat of Out the Door I had the shiniest manicure ever.

I am beyond THRILLED to have these polishes. For ages I've searched for a perfect red and green Christmas polish, and in my opinion these truly are them.

I used my Twinkled T nail vinyls to get the stripes. I'm so happy I purchased the assorted striped pack, because for awhile there I sat and debated on if I would actually use them. Part of me prefers nail art tape because I can get more control with it, but part of me likes the vinyl because you can get the different sizes. Maybe I need more practice with my vinyls to like them more than tape?? Who knows. Regardless, I love how clean and even this manicure turned out using the vinyls.

What do you think? Do you have any of these polishes? Aren't they GORGEOUS!?
Don't forget to check out the other Twinsie's posts!

Have a great day everyone! I'll be back with two more Christmas manicures!!! I think I might post one tomorrow, then the last one on Christmas eve!! We will see, might have to wait for Christmas day for the last one.

Good morning polished world! How are you all doing?? I meant to have a post up yesterday but I felt really under the weather Thursday night when I planned on getting it all ready. Then all day yesterday I felt like I was beat up from not feeling well the day before. Ugh, just annoying. I blame the weather. This abnormal warmth then right down to 30 degrees the next day....it needs to stop.

Today is Round 19 of Bestie Twin Naills with Fashion Footing! This month we decided to do a festive Christmas manicure. Amanda took a gander through my Christmas Nail Art Idea board on Pinterest and liked this Christmas tree manicure by Sensationails4U on Instagram.

Let's take a look!

Colors Used:

Salon Perfect - He's With Me

China Glaze - Bring on the Bubbly

OPI - My Boyfriend Scales Walls

Zoya - Chita

INM - Northern Lights

I wasn't too fond of this manicure at first, but now I'm really starting to love it, especially now after editing the photos! The Christmas tree was a pain in the bootie to do, so that's why I really wasn't a fan of it. I originally tried to paint the trees on using acrylic paint, but for the life of me I couldn't get the tree to look right. This was very odd to me because I have never had a problem using acrylics to create art.

So I went to my polish drawers and found Chita. I always have luck when it comes to using the Pixie Dust polishes for art. They're easy to work with, maneuver around, and dry fast. AKA perfect nail art polish! After two tries, I was able to get my little tree!

I am absolutely in love with the red nails. I'm not a huge fan of red, but He's With Me is just gorgeous! As I said in a previous post, He's With Me is a dupe of China Glaze Ruby Pumps. With an added top coat of INM Northern Lights, it is beyond gorgeous. I almost can see myself doing all 10 nails like this. Almost....

And I'm so happy to be holding a bottle of my favorite white - My Boyfriend Scales Walls. I hit the jackpot and found a beauty supply store which had 6 bottles for sale. During Black Friday, this store ran a 3 for $16 deal on OPI polishes! Soooo all 6 bottles became mine. Well 3 are for Amanda, 3 are for me. Added to my extra bottle I already have, I am now safe to use this polish again because of my back up of 4 bottles.

Hello polished world! How are you all doing today?? I'm not going to lie, when I just started writing this post, I actually wrote "Happy Friday!" It's only Wednesday...Wednesday....and I'm thinking it's Friday. That tells you how long my week is feeling. I'm literally exhausted. Good thing that I don't have to edit photos and create a post today!!!

I'm so pleased to introduce you all to Lisa from The Polish Playground. She is the December Nail Artist of the Month!! Lisa is a fellow Twinsie, and an awesome supporter of my blog!!! She comments on every single one of my posts, and it is so appreciated.

I should have featured her a long time ago because she creates some awesome manicures! Everybody, please welcome Lisa!!!

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Hi readers of The Little Canvas! My name is Lisa from The Polish Playground. I was so excited to be asked by Alaina to be her December's Nail Artist of the Month. I've been into nail art for around three years now. I first got interested in it after stumbling across a few nail art blogs and I just got hooked. I'm still learning as I go but I love how creative I can be with what I design on my nails.

Since its the holiday season right now, I thought it would be appropriate to share a more festive manicure today. I decided to go with some simple red candy cane nails with a bit of sparkle to it. Let's see how I created it then.

First for my base color, I used Different Dimension I've Been An Angel All Year and topped it off with Sephora by OPI Meet Me At Disco for more sparkle on all my nails. Taking some striping tape, I applied pieces of it diagonally on each nail to create the candy cane stripes. Next, I applied American Apparel Downtown LA on top and before the polish fully dried, I peeled the striping tape off. Finished with a coat of Glisten & Glow HK Girl Top Coat.

I'm a huge fan of simple manicures so I think these are perfect to create especially if your someone who's just starting to get into nail art. Its so festive and cute. A huge thank you to Alaina for featuring me as her December Nail Artist of the Month. It was a honor to do so :)

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How amazing is this candy cane manicure??? I cannot get over how perfect her lines are! Every time I use red polish and striping tape, it ends up bleeding or smearing when I add the top coat. This is so crisp and perfect! And that base?! Just gorgeous!

Lisa, thank you for this amazing post and festive manicure! I'm so happy to finally feature you here on my blog! :)

Good morning polished world! How are you all doing on this fine Monday? It's supposed to be 65 degrees here today which is VERY abnormal. Despite the fact that it's warm, there still is this winter chill in the air. Which is kind of making me believe that we might get a white Christmas after all. Who knows though.

Today I am sharing with you my annual Christmas light manicure. I purchased a few of the Nine Zero Lacquer holiday polishes, one being Twinkle Lights. It only made sense to create a twinkle light manicure over a polish called Twinkle Lights!

Let's take a look!

Colors Used:

Nine Zero Lacquer - Twinkle Lights

Acrylic Paints

I cannot get over how gorgeous this polish is!!! Twinkle Lights is a silver linear holo with semi transparent rainbow glitters throughout. That's right, semi-transparent rainbow glitters....in a linear holo. It is just as awesome as it sounds. I never knew that semi-transparent glitter was a thing, but using them in this silver holo was genius.

The polish applied perfectly in two coats. After the first coat, I was really unsure that I would get full coverage because it was very sheer. Then second coat, the silver built up, the glitters evenly covered, and it was perfection.

To create the lights, I used a nail art brush and drew the "wire" onto my nails with a black acrylic polish. I then went through with a toothpick and outlined all the light bulbs. Once the outlines were dry, I used a small dotting tool and filled in all the empty spaces like a coloring book. Again, with a toothpick, I drew on the white line.

Last year, I then went through and added glitter over the top of the lights which really made them sparkle. I debated on doing that this year, but decided against it because I thought it would take away from the gorgeous base. Now after seeing the photos, I'm really happy I kept the lights a plain cream. I think it added dimension, and look like they're almost popping off the base.

What do you think? Do you like the lights? Are you a fan of Nine Zero Lacquer?
I cannot wait to show you my next manicure using Santa Suit by Nine Zero Lacquer. It's just as gorgeous as this polish!

Good morning polished world! How are you all doing today?? It's Friday which means tomorrow is what I have now renamed to Sleep In Day. It's still unseasonably warm here. It is expected to be in the upper 50s today, and then possibly in the 60s this weekend. I cannot believe it because this time last year we had snow on the ground. It just does not feel like December 11th.

Despite it not feeling like December 11th and that Christmas is right around the corner, I still have to be festive and create holiday manicures. Part of me is feeling more in the Christmas spirit now that my Nine Zero Christmas polishes arrived. They weren't used for today's manicure but my next post should.

While I was waiting for my Nine Zero Lacquers, I dug around in my Melmer and found some very Christmas-y looking polishes. I decided to do a holly design since I never really have done one before. My mind started thinking and I came up with this little mani.

Let's take a look!

Colors Used:

FingerPaints - Paper Mache

Salon Perfect - He's With Me

Zoya - Chita

I forgot what a gorgeous polish Chita is. It's one of the original formula Pixie Dust polishes. It has full coverage in one coat, but I decided to go for two with this manicure. I didn't have a reason behind it other than I feel weird just having one coat of polish on my nails.

He's With Me....awful name, gorgeous polish. It's a dupe of China Glaze Red Ruby Pumps. I won this polish last year during a Nail It! Magazine giveaway and I'm super happy to have it as part of my collection. It's a red jelly pack with super super tiny microglitter. I absolutely love it, and I'm not a huge fan of red polishes.

To get the look, I started off with a base of white polish. When that was dried, I used a dotting tool and added the little holly berries. I then used a toothpick and drew on the leaves using Chita. I find it's eaiser to use a toothpick instead of a nail art brush when working with the Pixie Dusts for art because they are so packed with glitter it can clump up on the brush and become unworkable. You definitely have more control when using a toothpick. You could also use the your smallest dotting tool.

What do you think? Like this holly look? Something you think you might try??

You'll have to bear with me for a little bit when it comes to my photos. So I got this brilliant idea to start taking photos in my room using my lamp instead of using my lightbox. I figured it would be easier, especially for bottle shots since all my polishes are right there. Yeah, well it ends up being a nightmare for photo editing. Then my sets of photos don't look the same. I do like the bottle shots using the polishes I used. I need to set up my Ottlight in my room and see if it would be any better. Maybe the Ottlight and a black shirt for a back drop? I don't know, I have to try. Easiest solution would be to take the polish too my lightbox, but I would love to phase my old busted lightbox out. It's so broken and beat up. My dad did buy me a professional one, but I need my Ottlight and room for it. Ugh....the problems of being a nail blogger.

I'll figure it all out. Let me know if you're liking the new bottle shots or if I should go back to the INM bottle.

Good morning polished world! How are you all doing today? It's Tuesday, but no Twinsie Tuesday today. I believe last week I posted that this month we will be taking a little break from our regularly scheduled posting. I think we have one coming up though the week of Christmas....I should double check that.

I'm starting to get in the holiday spirit! Are you? It is taking me a little longer this year because our weather is unseasonably warm. I really am hoping for a white Christmas. I'll cross my fingers and say a prayer!

Today my manicure is a re-creation of this adorable penguin manicure by @kt_tk1 on Instagram. After stumbling upon it on Instagram, it went immediately into my must re-create file. It's honestly one of the cutest things I've ever seen!

Let's take a look!

Colors Used:

FingerPaints - Patent Black

FingerPaints - Paper Mache

FingerPaints - Sparkle With Me

Salon Perfect - He's With Me

Salon Perfect - Glam Glitter

Acrylic Paint

Aren't these the most adorable things you've ever seen!? I love the little guys!!! I didn't think that they would be so easy to re-create either. For my middle finger, I started out with a base coat. Using acrylic paint, I drew the heart shape face on my nail. While that was drying, I painted on the scarf. I then went back through and added the rest of the facial details.

My ring finger took a little more work. I started off with a base coat of white polish. Once that was dry, I put nail art tape across my nail and painted on a coat of Salon Perfect He's With Me. This polish is a dupe of China Glaze's Red Ruby Pumps. Love having it as part of my collection, but I'll talk about that in my next post. Once dried, I took black acrylic paint and outlined my nail and painted on the little fins...or flippers? What do you call them on a penguin?? Then I added the scarf and the feet, covered off with a top coat, and called it a night!

Since I really, really, really want snow, I added a top coat of Sparkle With Me by FingerPaints. This polish is so so pretty. It contains multi-hexed white glitters with holo silver flecks throughout. It really reminds me of fresh snow. Over the black it's like snowfall at night.

On my thumb I decided to do a coat of Paper Mache with a top coat of Glam Glitter. This is a red, green, and gold top coat. It is a dupe of a China Glaze which came out years ago before I got into polish. I'm so happy it's part of my collection! I think it really tied the manicure together!

What do you think? Fan of this adorable manicure? Something you would try??

Good morning polished world! How are you all today? It's Saturday which means it's lazy day for me! My plan for today, maybe organize my polish, maybe crochet. I haven't felt well the past few days so a day of rest after a crazy work week is sounding pretty nice.

Today I'm sharing with my version of this snowflake manicure by @reynasnailart on Instagram. I saw it posted on the HBBeauty Bar page and I just had to re-create it. Something about the blue, the silver, and the simplicity of the one nail with the snowflake. It was all to die for. Plus, we haven't had any snow here, so I'm hoping that if I continue to do snowflake manicures, the snow will come and I will get into the holiday spirit.

So I grabbed some polishes, and a perfect accenting glitter, and got to work! Let's take a look!

Colors Used:

China Glaze - Capacity to See Beyond

FingerPaints - Paper Mache

FingerPaints - Glitz and Glam

FingerPaints - Be Merry & Sparkle

I'm in LOVE with FingerPaints Be Merry & Sparkle. Like Sterling Sculpture, it is a part of the Tis the Season to Sparkle collection which is in stores now. It applies perfectly in one coat with no need for dabbing or placing of glitters. It's a blue, silver, and gold hex glitter in a clear base. For this manicure, I layered it over Glitz and Glam, a silver metallic polish. I was afraid at first that the silver glitter would get lost over the metallic base, but it ended up being just as sparkly as the other glitters. It actually added a neat dimension to the nails.

The blue glitter I think is perfect for winter. It is especially perfect for this manicure because of how it matches the blue polish. I think it accented the manicure perfectly.

What do you think? Fan of this polish? Have you tried any of the FingerPaints glitters?

The Tis the Season to Sparkle collection is available now at Sally Beauty Supply, so head on over and pick up your bottles! I highly recommend this glitter, and well you know my love already for Sterling Sculpture. I swatched the last glitter of the collection on a nail wheel and I can tell you the coverage is just as amazing as these. I just love glitters which involve no dabbing and placing...don't you?

Good morning polished world! How are you all doing today? It's Wednesday, smack dab middle of the week Wednesday. I was going to hold off and post this tomorrow, but I have a surplus of manicures to post, plus I'm planning on having a Nail Artist of the Month post, so I figured let's get some out of the way. I'll regret this come the weekend and I don't have any photos edited to write up another post. Seriously I have 5 drafts, and I think one might have the photos all ready to go in it. Gosh, I'm a slacker.

I better stop slacking though because I want to start sharing holiday manicures! I have only painted one that I can consider holiday....maybe, so really I'm not too far behind. Maybe this weekend I'll start painting some Christmas designs. Oh and then there is Bestie Twin Nails coming up! I think December is going to be quite busy over here on the blog.

I'm getting off topic. Today I'm sharing with you a manicure which is a recreation of one I saw by Nicole over at Young Wild and Polished. Some of her kitchen sink manicures are to die for and super eye catching. This pink polka dot/chevron combo was just that and I had to re-create it. Of course, using one of my brightest neons.

Let's take a look!

Colors Used:

Orly - Oh Cabana Boy

Orly - White

Orly - Liquid Vinyl

I just only now realize that I used all Orly polishes for this manicure. I love when I'm able to do a full manicure using one brand. My collection isn't nearly as large enough to do this for every single manicure, so when that one rare occasion pops up, it makes me happy. My goal though is to own every single Orly polish known to man because I have yet to find one that I hate. They're worth the extra money because I swear they never get goopy or dry up. I think that I've said this twenty times over on the blog, but I had to say it again.

Oh Cabana Boy! is my favorite neon pink polish. Back when I first started blogging, my first neon pink polish was China Glaze Hang Ten Toes. It was my favorite polish because it wasn't just a neon pink, but it had this weird blue shimmer undertone. I used that polish right down to the bottom, got super happy when I found some bottles at a supply store. Sadly, I found that the polish was unworkable as China Glaze changed the formula and you could barely get two coats because it was so streaky and chalky.

So I my sad little self returned my defected bottles of China Glaze and went on to Sally Hansen where I stumbled upon Oh Cabana Boy, an identical dupe in my opinion. It is the same bright pink with that blue weird shimmeryness to it. Formula is pure perfection. Two coats, solid coverage. It dries matte like most neons, but when you add a top coat it becomes so shiny and it really makes the neon pop. As I said, by far my favorite neon pink polish. I actually love all my Orly neons. I should do an Orly neon week soon.

What do you think? Fan of this manicure? Something you would try? Do you love Orly neons as well?
This turned into a love post for Orly, which wasn't my direction when I started writing this post. I do want to say before I sign off, the Twinkled T Chevron Nail Vinyls deserve a lot of love here. They're beyond awesome! I love how Nicole did the chevrons up and down. I'm not that creative to think of putting the vinyl on my nail in a different direction. I just love everything about this manicure. All products, the look, everything.

Okay, I'm going to stop talking now. This post is becoming the longest in the history of this blog! Have a good day!